Thursday, September 12, 2013

Project Cubbins: Hat 109 - New Amsterdam State of Mind Edition

Day 109 / Hat 109: Khaki-colored, 100% cotton baseball-style cap (it's been awhile since you say one of these, right?) with "NEW YORK" in black, white-edged embroidery on the front with the words "Since 1625" right below it. The words "New York City" are embroidered on the back of the hat.

I purchased this hat for the Project earlier today from a gentleman set up at the southeast corner of 80th and Broadway. Dude man had LOTS of hats to choose from but I knew I wanted a hat that paid homage to my twice-yearly temporary hometown -- and I was intrigued by the historical implications of the 1625 date.

Those of you with a better handle on the city's origins probably well know that the year 1625 is noted on the Official Seal of New York City and signifies the year Fort Amsterdam was designated the capital of the province of New Amsterdam, the colonial Dutch settlement which would later become the City of New York." According to the History Channel, New Amsterdam became New York on September 8, 1664 -- 349 years and four days ago.

At first I thought it might be helpful to point this out to dude man since he's essentially got a whole row of hats sitting on that table out on the street corner that are historically inaccurate.Then I thought better of it.

Let's be thankful the name did shorten by a few syllables otherwise we'd have awkward-to-sing songs on karaoke night like Frank Sinatra's "New Amsterdam, New Amsterdam" and Billy Joel's "New Amsterdam State of Mind."

About Me

Adam Tschorn is currently a staff writer at the Los Angeles Times where his coverage of fashion, style and popular culture most often appears online at All The Rage and in the hard copy of the Sunday Los Angeles Times Image section.

He's been covering menswear since 2004 and wearing it much, much longer than that. He holds a BA in philosophy and an MA in journalism, which has prepared him perfectly for watching fashion shows and asking: "Why?"